THE EDDIE GRAY MEMORIAL ORATION

Editors Note

Here’s a rare account of our glorious past recounted by an all time Legend. We are happy to present this to our readers so that they may understand how far we have slipped but more importantly the important task upon us to put RC back where it truly belongs, for the sake of our sons and theirs!

-------------------

ROYAL COLLEGE OLD BOYS’ ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIA (VICTORIA)

THE EDDIE GRAY MEMORIAL ORATION  

(26 OCTOBER 2025)

 “MY ROYAL”

(LORENZ PEREIRA)

Most importantly, I would like to commence with acknowledging this most unexpected Honor just bestowed upon me by the Association, namely being chosen as an Hon. Life Member of our esteemed Association. Most grateful, appreciative, privileged and thankful. Delighted to be comforted that “maturity” still brings some notable accolades.

Good afternoon, Elite Gentlemen of Royal.

I am sorry that after your splendid lunch and happy conversation, you now have to listen to me. Blame Ranga.  

Today we celebrate a very important occasion, the Eddie Gray Memorial Oration, which I am least qualified to deliver. I am no Orator, but a simple Sportsman. My canvas has been the playing fields of Royal. 

Nevertheless, I shall endeavour to do justice to the memory of my dear friend, Eddie Gray. 

Thanks heaps Ranga for your kind invitation to speak at this esteemed occasion. It’s a great privilege and honor. Eddie was a dear friend of mine. I thoroughly enjoyed his joyful company, his enthusiasm and energy at all times. He was the ultimate personification of a blue-blooded devout Royalist.

It's generally accepted that Eddie Gray was the Father of our Association in Australia. It was Eddie who in the early 70’s convened a meeting of old Royalists at Hedgeley Dene Receptions with a view to forming an Old Boys Association. He became our First Secretary. In fact, Eddie personally funded most costs, including postage etc., during that formative period. 

Undoubtedly, a most gracious and generous host, particularly to Royalists who were always most welcome at his home with much love.

Eddie had a most distinguished sporting career at Royal, captaining the Rugby, Boxing and Athletics Teams. That’s an incredibly monumental achievement which will never be bettered.

Eddie just loved Royal and was passionate about everything Royal. No surprise that a fitting Annual Memorial function is named after him. I am privileged and delighted to be speaking here in honour of my dear friend, Edde. He would be delighted at the magnificent evolution of his beloved Association. Heartiest congrats to all who have been involved in this successful journey. 

My topic today, “My Royal” resonates with what consumed Eddie’s life.

If you should ask me what Royal has done for me, I would say without any hesitation that Royal has given me all the qualities, all the attributes and all the learning skills to enable me to be what I am.

Thank you Royal.

How did I survive at Royal playing so much sport? Was there any time and effort devoted to study? As per our motto, I should have been asked to depart on many occasions.

The motto is quite brutal in that respect, quite black and white with no compromises. 

Strangely, there does not appear to be any record of who gave the motto to the school, although Principal Todd (1871-1878) constantly reminded students that they must “Learn or Depart”.

It’s a relic of that highly regimented overtly disciplined and autocratic British Private School system of over 150 years ago.

A bygone schoolmaster’s typical threat rather than an inspiration to learn.

I note that since the Motto was introduced, no one has been asked to depart for lack of learning, probably only for bad behavior.

I am not surprised. 

For Learning is a continuous Life’s journey, there are no stoppages, no finite failure measurements, not a sole privilege of school education.

Learning at Royal was just the beginning of that endless Learning before us, certainly not the end, as probably implied by our Motto. 

A far more relevant inspiring Motto for today’s dynamic, inclusive new society would be, “Learn and Depart”. Just a fleeting thought. 

When we entered Royal, we began our journey, “To learn of Books and Men and learn to play the Game”.

Those precious words from our school song give us Royalists a status symbol, a sort of elitism and a distinctive competitive advantage in being a learned group.

I am sure that each one of you would have been inspired, influenced and benefited from those words to some extent at some time. 

In my case, I didn’t learn much from books, but certainly did from Men, from my great Masters at Royal and learnt a great deal from playing the Game.

Let me elaborate.

Firstly, to my Principal, Mr. Dudley de Silva, will henceforth refer to him as Principal Dudley, who totally changed the path of my life.

I was an absolute rascal playing sport at lunchtime and after school and chasing girls thereafter with minimal studies in-between.

I was destined to the scrapheap, on the verge of being “departed.”

Then one morning I was summoned to Principal Dudley’s office.

I was convinced it would be expulsion, the first student to be “departed” for not “Learning” in the long history of the school.

Principal Dudley, looking extremely stern and unsympathetic, then dropped a bombshell, saying, “ I am giving you a final chance to redeem yourself, “I am making you a Prefect.”

My knees collapsed under me.

It was that single sentence that defined my life, changed my destiny.

Thank you Royal, thank you Principal Dudley. 

When my father heard of my elevation, he was extremely disturbed.

How come his scoundrel son was elevated to a position of Prefect in his beloved and esteemed Royal College?

Being a passionate and patriotic Royalist and Senior Vice-President of the RCU, the integrity, values and traditions of Royal College meant more to him than a temporary accolade for his rascal son.

He immediately confronted Principal Dudley.

Later I gathered that Principal Dudley had provided my father with some vague hypothetical rationale of experimenting with the theory of reverse psychology to improve my way of life.

It worked. I later became Head-Prefect and took those sacred values that my father strongly believed in to even more ridiculous levels.

Let me explain.

My youngest brother and his classmate, lets call him P, were reported to the Prefects on a weekly basis. Together they caused me immense problems.

One day, I received some inside information that both were going for a puff at a particular time at a particular location.

I got there 15 n=mts earlier found a secluded bush and waited in ambush. 

30 mts passed and no one turned up.

.Can you visualize that scenario?

The Head-Prefect of Royal College hiding in some bush in the sweltering midday sun to nab his brother?

It seems so degrading, but like my father before me, the school and its unwritten code of conduct reigned supreme.

I later found out that my brother and P had brazenly strolled through the main gate, had a smoke and returned safely.

It taught me that every good or noble intention in life is not always rewarded.

By the way, the other guy, P, an orphan boy since 7 years old, ultimately asked to leave school due to an alleged misdemeanor (not by him on this occasion), with barely an O’Level and arriving in London with just 30 pounds in his wallet, went on to be a Director of IBM UK, went on to Harvard and subsequently, Chairman of one of the largest Banks in Europe His journey is an incredibly astonishing and inspirational one. 

He has just published his life story, “A Road less Ordinary”. 

Please read it.

See where Royal rascals end up.

Another problem fellow student

This guy, call him M, was the father of all rascals – the Godfather.

He was my teammate, and we played together in the Big Match.

M had the audacity, with his reputation as the Godfather of Royal rascals to walk into my father’s office and ask for a character reference.

My father naturally asked him for some background on himself.

With a confident smirk on his face, M proudly said, “I am a good friend of your son, Lorenz”

“Don’t tell me that you are a fool like my son”

M hastily replied, “No Sir, no Sir, we are only in the same team, but I hardly know him”.

Quick on the draw was M.

My father gave M a glowing reference that he still has after 65 years.

My father saw something in M that even M didn’t know about himself.

My father was absolutely correct.

I learnt then not to judge people on the surface.

In another incident, M was about to be suspended, but Principal Dudley wanted the courtesy of informing his father before he did so.

A meeting with his father was arranged for the following Monday at 9 AM.

Crisis

An immediate meeting with M’s fellow conspirators – the Royal Mafia at that time was summoned.

A substitute father needed to be found, ASAP.

After a few interviews, one driver of a car that brought a well-to-do student was selected on the basis of a packet of 3 Roses.

On the appointed day, the Driver all dolled up in tie and jacket entered Principal Dudley’s office with his “son”, M.

The fake father sat down with M immediately standing behind.

Principal Dudley went on a tirade of the numerous misdemeanors committed by M.

He then said that there was no alternative other than to suspend M.

The fake father immediately jumped up from his chair and gave M two thundering slaps that sent M reeling to the rear wall.

Principal Dudley had to hastily intervene and pacify the ‘fake’ father and convince him that his “son” was really not that bad.

In fact, Principal Dudley took the fake father on a half tour of the school to cool him down.

It taught me that mischievous ingenuity is rewarded at times.

My darkest most scarry moment at Royal that has left a lasting physical scar, occurred in my first year at Royal in 1950.

It was my first math’s class under the dreaded Vice-Principal, Jowl. He was known to be a brutal sadist, but a great teacher and disciplinarian.

Jowl wrote an extremely simple equation, on the black board with a piece of white chalk. 

He spotted me, probably the most nervous looking at the rear of the class and bellowed, “Pereira stand up, what’s the answer?”

Simple, I knew the answer, opened my mouth and muttered the answer, but there was no sound due to sheer fear.

“Come here he bellowed again”

As I got to the blackboard, he got hold of my head and began wiping the chalk off the blackboard.

It was embarrassing, frightening and humiliating.

My welcome to Royal College.

 Worse was to follow

I had a beautiful crop of black flowing hair that was the envy of numerous girls, but can you see the disaster Jowl initiated.

Such is Life.

I am proud to say that some of my closest and best friends are those I fiercely did battle with from St. Thomas’s and Trinity.

One of those being Michael Tissera, to me the most outstanding allround Sri Lankan cricketing sportsman, who captained St. Thomas’s when I captained Royal in 1958.

But our rivalry started long before that.

We were both attending Sinhala tuition classes for our O’Levels.

There were three of us packed into this tiny room like sardines.

The third student was this absolutely stunning attractive super sexy girl with the most sensuous inviting lips. Vow.

She came in the briefest of shorts and Michael and I cut our shorts even further to allow for greater flesh to flesh thigh contact.

Michael and I spent the entire tuition class jockeying to be the first to feel her sexy legs.

Results came and all three failed badly. Regretably, she couldn’t choose between the lovely handsome Michael on her right thigh and the yakko rascal on her left thigh.

Indeed a good life’s lesson not to be influenced by superficial sensual pleasures.

What did I learn from playing the Game at Royal ?

Absolutely plenty.

I define “game “ in the context of the school song to be far greater and wider than just sports participation.

To me it encompasses the whole “Game of Life”, with active sport being one component.

I can confidently testify, from my own experience, that there is no better place for a student to learn of the “Game of Life” than at Royal College.

In regard to my sport, I would never have achieved what I have achieved if not at Royal.

Most importantly, Royal taught us to play our sport within the “Spirit of the Game”

To be a Sportsman first, a Champion thereafter.

It’s a critical Life’s Lesson to be applied at every stage of one’s journey.

To me, the essence of my Royal is without question the Intimate, Endearing, Loving, Loyal and sincere Friendships that we made in school.

Above all, Royal was and is the crème dela crème of sporting colleges world-wide.

.No other school has the sporting pedigree that Royal has.

No other school world-wide can boast of not one but two of the grandest sporting contests, namely the Royal-Thomian and the Bradby.

Today, they are not just sporting contests on the playing fields, but are iconic social fixtures that capture the mind and spirit of Royalists world-wide.

It has given us, Royalists, a unique patriotic culture, not to found anywhere else.

“My Royal” is not just about Sport.

I acknowledge, take immense pride, respect and salute our great Principals such as Bradby, our amazing dedicated teachers, the great Leaders both in Politics and Commerce, our outstanding Academics and Scientists, our elite National Sportsmen and of course our only Olympian, Eddie Gray and one of the most special, Sri Lanka’s only Noble Prize Winner, Professor Mohan Munasinghe.

Don’t you feel so very special, proud and blessed being a Royalist?

Finally, if any one of you should meet me today for the first time, 

I know all about you.

YOU ARE A ROYALIST, 

WE ARE BROTHERS,

 

WE ARE ONE FAMILY.  

LOVE YOU ALL, ROYALISTS

Many thanks for your patience

Please stand for the Toast, 

“To Eddie Gray”